Tag: Australia COVID-19

Australia Removes Moderna Peadrictric Vaccine Approval for Children Under 5

Health authorities in Australia have quietly removed Moderna’s paediatric COVID-19 vaccine for children five years and under, with both options offered by the company now no longer available in the country. This comes after the Australian Technical Advisory Group (ATAGI) announced it would no longer recommend COVID-19 vaccines for individuals who are five and under…


Australia Removes Moderna Vaccine for Children Under 5

Health authorities in Australia have quietly removed Moderna’s paediatric COVID-19 vaccine for children five years and under, with both options offered by the company now no longer available in the country. This comes after the Australian Technical Advisory Group (ATAGI) announced it would no longer recommend COVID-19 vaccines for individuals who are five and under…


More ‘Nanny State’ Not the Solution After Devastating Bus Tragedy

Commentary With a crisis comes the inevitable knee-jerk government response. It seems to be an affliction that is universal in Australia (and most leaders nowadays) irrespective of the level of government or its stripes. The reaction is always more state interference in our lives and regulation. The view being the quicker the better because that…


Millions to Be Spent on Long COVID Study

Research into long COVID will get a significant boost from Australia, following the federal government’s announcement it will provide $50 million (US$33.5 million) from the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) towards the study of the disease. This comes after a national inquiry into the condition called for the establishment of a nationally coordinated research program for…


Disobeying Valid Laws: When Is It Justified

Commentary In 1970, the Sydney Morning Herald published an article entitled “How should we react to unjust laws?” The author, Ilmar Tammelo, argued that defiance of an allegedly “unjust” law leads to “awkward practical consequences” because “on critically important occasions, it may be extremely difficult to ascertain what is just and what is unjust.” In…


Australians Told to Avoid People as COVID-19 “Variant Soup” Looms

Deakin University associate professor in epidemiology Hassan Vally is warning about a COVID-19 “variant soup” consisting of five new strains leading the latest wave in Australia. “We never get too confident when we talk about the virus,” Vally told AAP. “Every time we think we’ve got a handle on it, there’s always a surprise around…


Western Australia Farewells Emergency COVID-19 Powers

Western Australia’s COVID-19 state of emergency has come to an end as the country braces for a new wave of infections. WA’s emergency powers expired overnight after more than two and a half years. They had been used by the McGowan government to take drastic measures earlier in the pandemic, including declaring border closures. In a…


‘A Blunt Instrument’: Review Pans Australia’s Use of Lockdowns, School Closures

A year on from some of Australia’s heaviest lockdowns, one of the largest non-government reviews into the country’s response has labelled many of the adopted policies “unprecedented” while criticising the use of lockdowns as “excessive” and “harsh.” “They proved to be a blunt instrument,” according to ‘Fault lines: An independent review into Australia’s response to COVID-19’…


‘A Blunt Instrument’: New Review Scathing of Australia’s Use of Lockdowns, School Closures

A year on from some of Australia’s heaviest lockdowns, one of the largest non-government reviews into the country’s response has labelled many of the adopted policies “unprecedented” while criticising the use of lockdowns as “excessive” and “harsh.” “They proved to be a blunt instrument,” according to ‘Fault lines: An independent review into Australia’s response to COVID-19’…


Australia’s Adverse Drug Reporting System is ‘Broken,’ Says Pharmaceutical Regulatory Affairs Expert

MELBOURNE, Australia—A clinical trials and pharmaceutical regulation affairs expert has declared Australia’s drug adverse event reporting system—Database of Adverse Event Notifications (DAEN)—“broken.” Dr. Phillip Altman has also urged Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA)—the equivalent of the U.S. Food and Drugs Administration (FDA)—to suspend the “provisional approval” status granted to COVID-19 vaccines. This comes after the…